Keeping employee time records?

Many clients record the total hours worked by employees and workers who are paid on an hourly basis, but do you keep records relating to their breaks and also for your salaried workers, especially those who work additional unpaid overtime?

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has recently ruled that employers must record the daily working time of individual workers in order to be able to demonstrate compliance with the Working Time Directive (WTD).

For those who like the detail, the case is Federación de Servicios de Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) v Deutsche Bank SAE. The Court said that employers who had no system in place that recorded the time worked by each individual employee could not reliably check the hours worked by those individuals and when, and so could not ensure (or prove) that they were not exceeding their maximum weekly working time, or were being given their minimum daily and weekly rest periods.

Our Working Time Regulations currently only require employers to keep ‘adequate records’ for two years, showing that the weekly and night work limits are being complied with. They do not cover daily or weekly rest breaks, nor do they require all hours of work to be recorded.

So as they stand currently, they fail to properly implement the WTD. If we remain within the EU, they will therefore need to be amended, and all employers will need to check that their time recording systems are sufficiently robust to show not just average weekly working time, but also whether the required breaks were given during the working day and between each working day.

So – there is no need for urgent action now, but if you are thinking of implementing a new time recording system, it is worth bearing this in mind – not only for your hourly paid workers but also for all office and support staff and managers, especially where they regularly work additional hours and this is not paid and therefore not always accurately recorded.

Compliance from a Time / Attendance System?

We install and configure secure clocking devices that combine powerful time registration with PC software and Cloud solutions.
Our solutions offer the ideal way to manage your workforce anytime, anywhere. Employees can securely clock in and out through Fingerprint, Facial Recognition, Mobile APP, RFID, Smart Card or PIN, meaning that you can easily create powerful attendance reports and efficiently plan your workforce.

To discuss the options further, please contact Jon Woliter on 01332 380691 or visit Ashgates IT